Review Summary: Dirty sludge that moves along at a pace
Only the most deranged, s
hit-munching serial-killer could deny that rabbits are the cutest things in the universe. You’d be forgiven for thinking, then, that Portland outfit, Rabbits, were a nice band – probably one dallying in effeminate indie-pop. What you wouldn’t immediately imagine, is the sound of manic, whiskey-soaked sludge to come leering at you with its knob out, waving a broken bottle in the general direction of your face. Rabbits’ debut album,
Lower Forms, sounds something like the mighty Eyehategod, with just a pinch of energy added into the mix. ‘Burn, Sun, Burn’ kicks the whole thing off with fuzzy, gloomy guitars, but quickly picks up the pace through the introduction of KG’s clattering drums. Sethro’s vocals range from pained and nasty (‘The Flow Below’) to balls-out frantic (‘Noise to Share’), but the range is enough to keep you interested. Though it never goes within a mile of anything even like a melody,
Lower Forms boasts a nice line in rhythms, giving it a weird type of catchiness that isn’t all that prevalent in the genre. Varying between a doom-laden drone and a faster, grimy-hardcore style might not be groundbreaking, but Rabbits do it very well, and the album feels complete because of it. Even if they bring nothing entirely new to the table, it’s hard to deny that the racket they make is impressively f
ucked up. Definitely a band to watch out for in the future.
